All Things Considered for Sunday, November 3, 2013

The pipeline that brings water out of California's Owens Valley to metropolitan Los Angeles turns 100 this month. The water wars it has spawned over the century still simmer, and the issues of water use, scarcity and stewardship are inextricable — if often invisible — to life in the city.

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Voters in Virginia and New Jersey go to the polls Tuesday to pick their next governor. NPR's Scott Horsley joins host Arun Rath from Northern Virginia, where President Obama just held a rally for Terry McAuliffe, the Democratic candidate for governor.

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Booker brought the city lots of attention and investment to the New Jersey city as mayor. But now that he's a U.S. senator, will the trend continue? Booker helped change Newark's perception, but the city still faces persistent crime. Mayoral candidates are taking that issue — and their ideas for solving it — to voters.

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A new study shows that restaurant workers under surveillance are less likely to steal. The study also reveals that employee surveillance enhances a restaurant's bottom line. Host Arun Rath discusses the effects of increasing employee surveillance with one of the study's authors, Lamar Pierce.

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Rjukan lies in the shadow of surrounding mountains for nearly six months every year. But the town recently installed a system of mirrors to bring sunlight to its central square. Not everyone can bask in the glow at the same time, but the project is bringing residents together.

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South Asian communities around the world are celebrating good over evil, knowledge over ignorance, light over darkness. Sunday is Diwali, the Hindu Festival of Lights. The holiday isn't well-known in the U.S., though, so families rely on themselves to keep the tradition alive.

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If it's Sunday in Houston, get ready to dance up and down the aisle at church. Zydeco music is the soundtrack to spirit-filled parties fueled by beer, boudin, and red beans and rice. It's a joyful continuation of a decades-old tradition.

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At the age of 59, the British science-fiction writer was diagnosed with a form of Alzheimer's. Now he's publishing an edited version of a book he first wrote when he was 17. He can't read because of his disease, but Pratchett continues writing — with the help of dictation software.